Diabetes bill doubles in a decade to £1bn a year
THE NHS bill for drugs and devices to treat diabetes patients has almost doubled in a decade to £1.1billion a year, figures show.
Soaring obesity rates mean one eighth of the Health Service’s entire drugs spending is on medication for diabetes sufferers.
The overall cost of the disease and its complications to the NHS is estimated at £14billion a year by charity Diabetes UK – £25,000 every minute. Experts warned that the illness could ‘bankrupt the NHS’ unless there is urgent action to tackle bulging waistlines.
NHS Digital figures show diabetes cost £1.075million in drugs and
Monday’s Daily Mail devices in 2018-19 – up from just £599million in 2008-09.
The money is spent on insulin, testing strips, anti- diabetic drugs and medicines for people when their blood sugar drops too low.
Diabetes accounted for an astonishing 12.5 per cent of the cost of all NHS prescriptions issued by GPs last year – more than any other drugs category. The bill has rocketed 220 per cent from £168million in 2008-09 to £540million in 2018-19.
A total of 4.7million people in the UK have diabetes – one in every 15 of the population. Around nine out of ten sufferers have type 2, which is linked to obesity and is largely preventable. Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, said: ‘The figure is staggering and will inevitably continue to rise until a Government begins seriously to tackle obesity – the major cause of type 2 diabetes.
‘The overall cost of all the diseases triggered by obesity is £24billion every year. The level of diabetes is a national crisis that is blighting millions of people’s lives and could even bankrupt the NHS.’
Two in three adults are now overweight or obese, with obesity levels doubling since 1993. Earlier this week the head of the NHS warned that ‘ever-expanding waistlines are taking a growing toll’.
Official figures show that hospitals are being deluged with 5,000 type 2 diabetes admissions every day. It is taking an unprecedented toll on the NHS, with doctors now seeing children aged under nine who need help. GP leaders also warned that some patients need up to 200 health appointments a year to deal with their condition.
The illness has devastating complications, which include heart attacks, strokes, kidney failure and amputations. Diabetes occurs when blood sugar levels rise to risky levels. The average cost of drugs prescribed per patient was £327.78 last year.
Professor Jonathan Valabhji, of NHS England, said: ‘This new data is another reminder of the urgent need to prevent Type 2 diabetes from developing in the first place through healthier lifestyles.’
Helen Dickens, of Diabetes UK, said: ‘The number of people with diabetes has not only doubled in the last 20 years, but it is also responsible for 26,000 early deaths per year. We need further action and continued commitment to put an end to the diabetes epidemic.’
HOSPITALS DELUGED BY 5,000 DIABETICS EVERY DAY